Faeries

General
FAERIES are winged, mischievous creatures with magical abilities and an association with nature. there was a time when the fae were only ruled by a faery queen and king, but disagreements and tension lead to a split , from which the seelie and unseelie courts were formed. as there are subcategories of fae based on each season, they eventually picked their side.

summer fae are the most polite and well mannered fae, but tend to be frivolous , venereal , and hot-headed.

spring fae are calmer and bright-eyed, and can be peppy , seductive , and emotional.

autumn fae are middling and strong, but also eerie , mysterious , and devious.

lastly, winter fae have ill intent and opinion of humans , and are therefore the most evil due to their sensible , dark , and chilly nature.

the seelie court comprises of summer and spring fae, who are mostly benevolent. these fae are more likely to return human kindness with favors and prefer to help than harm. in contrast, the unseelie court comprises of autumn and winter fae , who are usually malevolent and could be morally ambiguous or harmful.

elves are the product of a human and a fae. when a fae and human form a relationship, their child will be born an elf , part fae and part human.

there are six major courts of Faerie, and they are sometimes used interchangeably. (The Seelie Court is like Summer and Spring combined, with a twist of really "evil" . The Unseelie Court is like Winter and Autumn combined, just more "evil")

History
Once upon a time, there was just Faerie with a Faery Queen (and King I believe.. maybe), and all inhabitants lived in this "City of Everlasting Change." One could say they were the original Seelie Court. One day there was an uprising. Groups of Fae no longer wanted to be part of the entirety of Faerie. They wanted to hold a hierarchy of their own thus branching off from Faerie. These Fae were the beginning of the Unseelie Court. I think monarchs are able to reign for 1000 years. This time can be extended if the people of their court agree to their reign (in Faerie time).

The Summer Court and Spring Court are closely associated with the Seelie and The Winter Court. The Autumn Court is closely associated with the Unseelie, but they are separate courts. They each have different roles and regulations. When they are used interchangeably, people just clump them together as ONLY Seelie or Unseelie. They are not different names for Seelie and Unseelie; people just tend to see it that way.

The Seelie Court is seen as more beneficent toward humans. Seelie means "Blessed" or "Holy" and is akin to German selig and Old English sælig. The modern word, "silly" which can be understood as happy, harmless, or beneficial. In Irish it is spelled seleighe. The fae of this court are known to seek out humans to warn those who had accidentally offended them in one manner or another, and to return human kindness with favors of their own. Fae don't like to be in debt. Even so, a faery belonging to this court will most definitely avenge insults and are prone to much mischief. The most common time of day to see them is twilight and sometimes dawn.

The Unseelie, the "Unholy" or "Unblessed" Court consists of the malicious and more evilly-inclined fairies. Unlike the Seelie Court, offense is not necessary to bring down their foes or anyone they choose to bother for that matter. As a group, or the 'host' as we Fae call it, they appear at night and assault travelers either 'physically', emotionally, and/or mentally– especially spiritually ignorant folk. Like the faeries of the Seelie Court, neither are the faeries of the Unseelie court always evil. However, when one of them is forced to choose, they will naturally prefer to harm than help.

The Winter Court
The Winter Court represents what people see as the malevolent side of the Fae. The fae of this court frown upon humans. They're more inclined to talk about their ope cruelty. This makes them look none other than evil, however one chooses to define evil. The Winter Court has free reign over winter solstice and autumn equinox months, and are strongest during that time. By and by, the fae of this court are sensible, chilled, dark, baleful, and what have you. They are the epitome of winter.

The Spring Court
The Spring Court is seen as the much "calmer" ones to the benevolence of the Fae compared to Summer. The fae of this court are generally polite and bright-eyed and bushy-tailed. These fae are more apt to lure humans in with sweet dew. They also have blossoming curiosity. The Spring Court is strongest during the ends of winter and throughout the spring season, despite the Summer Court having reigned. These fae are peppy, quiet, seductive, emotional, and vernal obviously. The epitome of spring.

The Summer Court
The Summer Court represents what people see as the benevolent side of the Fae. The fae of this court are generally considered more polite or mannered, albeit they are still very capable of cruelty (but will be more hush-hush, or subtle about it). The Summer Court has free reign over summer solstice and spring equinox months, and are strongest during that time. Needless to say, the fae of this court are frivolous, venereal, hot-headed and what have you. They are the epitome of summer.

The Autumn Court
The Autumn Court is seen as the equally malevolent side of Fae in comparison to Winter, but much more middling. The fae of this court are generally the ones doing the "dirty work" and "trooping". However, these fae can have much nicer sides than any of the Fae and return great favors. The Autumn Court is strongest during the ends of summer and throughout the autumn season. These fae are strong, mystique, eerie, ravishing all the same, and devious. The epitome of autumn.

Powers & Abilities
faes gain their magic through a substance called pixie dust, and can hone and control the dust through magic wands , however not all faes do this.
 * ABILITIES MAGIC THAT STEMS FROM PIXIE DUST, FLIGHT , ABILITY TO GROW TO A FULL HUMAN SIZE , THE ABILITY TO GRANT FLIGHT TO OTHERS USING PIXIE DUST , SUPER HUMAN AGILITY , SUPER HUMAN SPEED.
 * WEAKNESSES A LACK OF PIXIE DUST, IRON WILL BURN THEM , ANYTHING THAT COULD NATURALLY KILL A HUMAN.
 * LIFESPAN FAE ARE IMMORTAL BUT CAN BE KILLED BY ANY MEANS.

Appearance

 * all fae have insect like wings and can fly with the help of pixie dust . a fae can fly without pixie dust, however it's painful and they are unable to go long distances.
 * all fae are roughly the size of a human hand . they're naturally small creatures but can use their magic to grow to a full human size, however even at that height they are at a significantly shorter size than the typical human.

Politics
In a nutshell, the Faerie Courts are the paramount social structures of Fae society. The Courts are very strong political allegiances that enforce their philosophy on existing members, recruit for new members, build armies, hold say in seasonal power, and blood nobility in a odd communist society– only the nobles truly have.

There are, of course, those who swear no allegiance to any Court, they are known as Solitary Fae. Nowadays, Solitaries are seen as having a neutral/balanced/common ground between the courts and they are also seen as some of the most dangerous. Living a life as a Solitary can be simple and good in some respect, but because they have chosen to be cut off from the larger support network, social interaction with others is not as available. Even so, Solitary fae can find means of interacting with others and can often be an intermediary for many purposes of Faerie and of Earth. Solitaries are usually unpredictable and have been seen as the outcasts (either banished, choosing to leave, or not choosing at all), and the "wild wee ones". There are not many that regret their decision of being court-less.